Aussie Kid

One of our (Nate and my) favourite things to put on toast or crackers is good ol' Aussie Vegemite. So we were sure to bring back three large jars with us from Australia when we last returned from there. It's a good thing too. It turns out Eliana has some good Aussie roots in her despite the distance. She LOVES vegemite! In fact it's now hard for us to get her to eat anything else on bread.

We are currently down to our last jar of Vegemite so it looks like it's good timing to return back to Australia for fresh supplies. It's less than 6 weeks until Eliana and I board a plane bound for homeland!

LOUD

One thing I don't think I've mentioned about Eliana is her love for loud noises. She laughs and giggles when we use the vacuum, blender and coffee grinder. A month or two ago we were at a friend's 30th. He got an 80s rock band together and they played LOUD, like unbelievably loud, 80s music in a small community room. To everyone's surprise (most of all her parent's) Eliana stood right under the lead singer's feet, near the massive booming speakers, and bopped away to the music!

I've learnt from that to take a video camera every where with me. Unfortunately I don't have any recent pics of Eliana, so here are a couple of her from this time last year - I hope the warm weather will join us soon!

17 Months

Eliana is now 17 months. Some new stuff for the month:

- She started going down the slide on her own

- One of the most exciting things for me is that she started saying animal noises! I have known babies to do this at 8 or 9 months so you can be assured that I've been trying to teach her to make animal noises from the time she was born :). But she just held off until she was ready. I'm finding that's true with a lot of her development. I want to force her to develop quickly, but God knows when it's time for her to take new steps and His timing is best :) .

- She's been saying mama like she means it. She has been practising saying her own name. It's a tricky one and her tongue gets in a tangle but she has a good go at it.

- Her favourite things to do still are brushing her teeth, reading books and playing outside. A new favourite activity is unpacking groceries. No matter how heavy the gallon of milk is or how tricky the bananas are to get out of the grocery bag, she will put all her effort in until each item has been taken to mum or dad in the kitchen to be put away.

- She's officially down to one nap now and i'm actually really enjoying it. It's been a hard transition though, as she went from two 1.5-2 hour naps to one 1.5 hour nap, but I'm hoping the longer we are on the new routine, the longer she will nap.

- The older she gets, the more I see my need for the Lord every minute of every day! My sweet little baby is a sinner. Allow me to revert to the thing I am most passionate about - the gospel. Nate and I believe the Bible is God's perfect word, so we want to seek the Lord's help to live by it. It tells us that we are all sinners in need of a Saviour, because our sins cut us off from our most Holy God, and without him we face eternal punishment - hell. The only way back to God is through His Son, Jesus. Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sin and then three days later conquered death and rose to life forever!!!! It's God's plan for salvation, and there is no other way according to Jesus himself (John 14). This gospel (or good news) and the whole Bible shapes all we do as parents. Eliana is so young and we don't know how much she understands, but we want our parenting to point her to Jesus every day. Only the Lord gives us grace to do so.

This is the way

Here is a flash back of a video I meant to post a looooong time ago! My mum and brothers use to play this game with me when I was a little girl, and I know mum still likes to play it with her grandchildren. Eliana was about 3 or 4 months when the video was taken. It's for you Grandma!

Important Milestones

Two wonderful things happened over the weekend! I was able to put Eliana's hair in a pony tail and I found Eliana scribbling on some of my work for the first time. These 2 firsts were almost as exciting as her first steps for me :)

Below she is 'brushing her hair'. Recently she figured out how to unzip the bag that holds most of her hair things, much to her delight. She likes to empty it every day. Her favourite item is the hair brush. She'll even brush my hair for me every now and again.

16 months

With all of this winter weather in Eliana's 16th month, we had to get her some gumboots so that she can play in the rain and snow. You can see her modelling them below. They have been a very worthwhile purchase! I'm not sure how much Eliana enjoys the snow, but she LOVES rainy weather and splashing her boots in rain puddles. My favourite day out is by far the random sunny, almost pleasant days that Louisville has spoilt me with this winter.

Not much new has happened this month. Eliana seems to have slowed down on her growth spurt. We've seen a drastic drop in how much she eats and she is gradually transitioning out of those 2 beloved daytime naps. Her favourite activities these days are brushing her teeth, going outside in her boots and reading books. I think Eliana could sit on my lap and read books all day if I let her.

She has started climbing on some things, like the couch. She's still not saying too many words. Sometimes I worry about that, but then I read the Psalms and see that people who are facing death are praising and thanking God. I see examples of friends around me who are facing much hardship and turmoil, yet they trust and praise God. My eyes are then turned to things above. What really matters is that Eliana will grow to know and love the Lord Jesus. And I have so much to be thankful for. Look at that sweet, healthy, happy face! Nate also reminds me of Jesus' words in Matthew 6 - being anxious won't help a thing. Seek first the kingdom God :)

15 months

Eliana is another month older. Today I was marveling at how much she's learning. I love seeing her do something new every week, if not every day. Her walking still seems wobbly and she has had a cuts and bruises this month, including chipping her front tooth! It's a good thing they'll get replaced in a few years:)

Her daddy has been diligent at teaching her body part names while he baths her and she can point to her eyes, ears, hair, nose, hands, toes, shoulders and belly. She has started making kissing noises and loves to kiss us, some of her toys, and occasionally lucky friends. More recently she has enjoyed carrying around little cups or bowls and putting trinkets in and out of them (meaning this entertains her for 1/2 an hour or more). This obsession with putting things inside containers means she is finally helping me pack up her toys!

She is growing in her understanding too. For example, when we say "time for bed" Eliana will come and give us a kiss then walk to her bedroom. She is sleeping wonderfully right now. She's still taking 2 naps a day totaling of around 3 - 4 hours and then usually sleeps 13 hours a night! This is a HUGE blessing for this pregnant mama!

Not only growing in delight and joy to us, she is also steadily growing physically. Here are the stats from her 15 month check up (where she got her last immunisations to my great relief!):

Weight - 22lb 15oz/10 404 g (50%)

Height - 31.75"/80.64 cm (75-90%)

HC - 18"/45.72 cm (25-50%)

Another fact that becomes more and more apparent is that we gave birth to a little sinner! It turns out she is just as defiant and sinful as Nate and I are. She didn't have to be taught how to throw a tantrum - that just comes naturally :) I pray that she will know her sin and her need for a Saviour from a young age and that she will seek Jesus to save her!

"Here I am, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." Revelation 3:20